Saturday, May 03, 2014

Wild and Blackhawks - A couple of things

I found a couple of interesting quotes from Russo's Rants that I thought were interesting.

“Obviously, it was a very winnable game for us,” Yeo said. “It didn’t have the feel of a game that we were going to win for sure. But to get yourself in that opportunity, you know, you’re starting to come on five-on-five, we were pretty good for a lot of points there, for a lot of periods of the game. But you’ve got to buckle down in those key moments and those key situations. We’ve been stronger than that lately, but this is nothing to hang our hat on. It’s about the next challenge in front of you.”

The Wild aren't going to win many more hockey games if they don't start playing better defensively. Also, the Wild forwards need to cash in on the opportunities that present themselves. How many chances has Wild forward Jason Pominville missed during the Stanley Cup Playoffs? Too many to count.

Last night, I think the Wild did deserved a better fate, but I feel the defense let the team down. Jonas Brodin was unimpressive last night, but we still need to remember he's very young player and sometimes young players make mistakes.

On Bryz, Yeo said he didn’t have a problem with his game (and right now he has no choice to talk him up): “Obviously this a talented team that can capitalize and don't need 30 opportunities to put five in the net so we have to limit those quality opportunities.”

"I felt that we had a handful of guys that were below average at best," Yeo said. "Whatever the reason for that, whether it's the quick turnaround, whether it's not being able to adjust and get refocused on this, we'll have to rectify that."

I'd bet the farm that we see John Curry before this series is over. The way this works for the Wild is that Bryzgalov might choke on a chicken bone during the pregame meal or slip in the shower or trip getting off the team bus. All manner of calamities befall their goaltenders. They don't even bat an eye when it happens anymore.